Authentic Chinese 5 Spice Peking Duck Recipes

PEKING DUCK WITH HONEY AND FIVE-SPICE GLAZE

Steps:

• Combine honey, soy sauce, sugar and 1/2 teaspoon five-spice powder in a small saucepan. Stir over low heat until sugar dissolves, about 3 minutes.
• In a large saucepan, bring 4 quarts water to a boil. Meanwhile, remove giblets and neck from duck cavity and discard (or reserve for another use). Cut off excess fat from cavity and neck area, then cut off tail. (This helps balance the duck vertically over the beer can.)
• Using your fingers, carefully separate the skin from the breast meat through the bottom of the breasts and work your fingers upward to separate the skin from the meat (be careful not to tear skin). Next, separate the skin from the backbone through the neck and working your way down until you reach the legs. (Scissors are helpful, but be careful to avoid piercing the skin.) Transfer duck to a rack set in the sink.
• Using a ladle or measuring cup, pour half of the boiling water evenly over top of the duck. Flip duck and pour the remaining water evenly all over second side. Tilt duck to drain all water from the cavity, then pat dry with paper towels.
• In a small bowl, combine the remaining 1/2 teaspoon five-spice powder with 1 teaspoon salt, the black pepper and 1 tablespoon of the glaze. Rub the mixture inside the cavity. Stand duck vertically by inserting beer can into cavity and place in a roasting pan or on a rimmed baking sheet.
• Using a pastry brush, brush the remaining glaze all over the duck and sprinkle evenly with remaining 2 teaspoons salt. Place duck in the refrigerator, uncovered, until the skin feels dry and leathery, 24 hours.
• Heat oven to 450 degrees with rack in bottom third of oven. Remove duck from refrigerator, and add 1 1/2 cups water to the pan. Wrap wing tips and tips of drumsticks with foil to prevent burning, then loosely tent duck with foil. Roast for 15 minutes. Decrease temperature to 350 degrees and roast, tented with foil, until skin is mahogany and an instant-read thermometer inserted into the thickest part of the thigh registers 165 degrees, 1 hour to 1 hour 15 minutes more, adding more water to the pan if needed.
• Leaving duck on the can, transfer duck vertically to a cutting board and let rest for 15 minutes. Carve the crispy skin from the back and legs of the duck, and slice into strips.
• Carefully remove duck from the beer can and return to cutting board. Carve off the breasts and legs; thinly slice the breasts and shred dark meat.
• Carefully strain pan juices into a small bowl and pour off all the fat. In another small bowl, whisk together the hoisin, sesame oil and up to 1/4 cup of the pan juices to form sauce.
• To serve, spread 1 tablespoon prepared sauce on each tortilla. Top each with some scallions, cucumbers, duck meat and crispy skin. Roll up and enjoy warm.

AUTHENTIC CHINESE 5-SPICE PEKING DUCK

Steps:

• thaw duck overnight in refrigerator.
• remove giblets and trim excess fat from tail area or anywhere hanging.
• pierce chopstick or skewer under wing and bring through to other side to pierce through under the other wing on the other side in order to give you a way to dunk and hang duck. wings may be removed if desired.
• in large wok or pot bring water to a boil.
• add in ginger, vinegar, soy sauce, xiao xing, and honey and stir to dissolve honey completely.
• make a slurry with cornstarch (mix with water) then add to boiling mixture.
• dunk duck into boiling mixture and spoon liquid over duck for a couple of minutes making sure you completely moisten duck and render some fat.
• repeat process for another couple of minutes.
• immediately hang duck in cool room with a fan on high pointed directly on duck. make sure you put a pot or similar under duck to catch drippings.
• rotate duck to ensure even drying. should take about 5 hours. skin will become taunt and tight.
• after 4-6 hours, rub duck with 5-spice powder to taste.
• heat oven to 375 degrees.
• place duck onto roasting or cooling rack on middle or top rack of oven with a large pan filled with about 2 inches of water on bottom rack of a 375 degree oven. this will catch any drippings, keep your oven clean, and keep duck moist.
• roast uncovered for about 1-1 1/2 hours rotating it 2-3 times.
• check internal temperature for doneness. mine was perfect at 175 degrees in the breast. note that convection ovens will cook duck quite fast.
• remove duck and rest 10 minutes before serving whole or chopping Chinese style on the bone.

CHINESE 5-SPICE DUCK WITH NOODLES

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 180C/170C Fan/Gas 4.
• With a sharp knife, score a cross-hatch pattern into the duck fat. Rub the five-spice into the fat and season with salt and pepper.
• Heat a heavy-based ovenproof frying pan. Place the duck breasts skin-side down and season the other side with five-spice, salt and pepper. Cook for about 3 minutes or until most of the fat has run out into the pan and the skin is golden-brown. Turn the duck over and cook for 1 minute. Then cook in the oven for 3-5 minutes then allow to rest.
• Warm the honey and soy sauce together in a small pan. Bring to for 1 minute. Allow to cool.
• Bring a pan of salted water to the boil and cook the noodles for 3-4 minutes or according to packet instructions. Drain and toss with half the spring onions, the lime juice and some sesame oil. Place between 2 bowls.
• Slice the duck into strips and place on top of noodles. Drizzle over the sauce and top with the remaining spring onions, sesame oil and sesame seeds.